RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Montgomery County >> Fort Washington >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Pennsylvania

The Commemorative Quarter for Pennsylvania





Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Fort Washington, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fort Washington and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Fort Washington:
    • 40.140661, -75.202091
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Fort Washington
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Fort Washington ...

We found two communities that share the name Fort Washington.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Fort Washington is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Prince George's County
      • This Fort Washington is located in Prince George's County and lies 138 miles [222.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Fort Washington that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince George's County community of Fort Washington.
    • New York
      • New York County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Fort Washington [New York County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fort Washington ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Blue Bell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Bell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Bell
    • Blue Bell is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Bell <4>
  • Broad Axe
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Carpenters Way
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carpenters Way have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenters Way
    • Carpenters Way is located in Montgomery County
  • Dublin Chase
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dublin Chase have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin Chase
    • Dublin Chase is located in Montgomery County
  • Dublin Crossing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dublin Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin Crossing
    • Dublin Crossing is located in Montgomery County
  • Five Points
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Five Points is located in Montgomery County
  • Flourtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Hill Crest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill Crest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Crest
    • Hill Crest is located in Montgomery County
  • Hillside ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillside have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
    • Hillside is located in Montgomery County
  • Maple Glen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Glen
    • Maple Glen is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maple Glen <4>
  • Maple Glen Hollow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Glen Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Glen Hollow
    • Maple Glen Hollow is located in Montgomery County
  • Mount Pleasant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Montgomery County
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Pheasant Knoll
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pheasant Knoll have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Knoll
      • Pheasant Knoll is located in Montgomery County
    • Rose Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Valley
      • Rose Valley is located in Montgomery County
    • Saw Mill Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saw Mill Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saw Mill Valley
      • Saw Mill Valley is located in Montgomery County
    • Spring House
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunnybrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunnybrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook
      • Sunnybrook is located in Montgomery County
    • Three Tuns
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Valley Green
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Green have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Green
      • Valley Green is located in Montgomery County
    • Village Circle
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Village Circle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Circle
      • Village Circle is located in Montgomery County
    • Wooded Pond
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wooded Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooded Pond
      • Wooded Pond is located in Montgomery County

How Far From Fort Washington to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Fort Washington to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fort Washington and extending to:

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the West.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Fort Washington to Harrisburg, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 130 miles [209.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,768 miles [9,282.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,474 miles [10,418.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,350 miles [7,000.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Washington. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Montgomery County: www.montcopa.org/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fort Washington) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Washington. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1407, Longitude: -75.2021    
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Fort Washington could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<6>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<7>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Fort Washington to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.709 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.294 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.431 degrees.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025